Mangrove Forests: One of the World's Threatened Major Tropical Environments

T he mass media and scientific press have widely reported losses of tropical environments, such as felling of rain forests and bleaching of coral reefs. This well-merited attention has created a worldwide constituency that supports conservation and restoration efforts in both of these threatened ecosystems. The remarkable degree of public awareness and support has been manifested in benefit rock concerts at Carnegie Hall and in the designation of ice cream flavors after rain forest products. Mangrove forests are another important tropical environment, but these have received much less publicity. Concern about the magnitude of losses of mangrove forests has been voiced mainly in the specialized literature